The Sting: McMahons celebrate with stakes win by homebred

By Sean Clancy

Paper, cotton, leather…gold at 50. And on your 51st anniversary? How about three wins by your New York stallion, including one by a filly you bred and co-own in her stakes debut, on Big Apple Showcase Day at Belmont Park. Yeah, that’s how Joe and Anne McMahon celebrated their 51st anniversary on Memorial Day 2021. Dinner at Mama Riso’s in Lake George topped it off.

“Today was a special day,” Joe McMahon said. “A special day.”

McMahon of Saratoga’s Central Banker produced Bankit to win the Commentator, Bank Sting to win the Critical Eye and topped it off with a win in the finale by Quantitativbreezin.

Bred by the McMahons and owned in partnership with Hidden Brook Farm, Bank Sting increased her win streak to four with a front-running gem in the $200,000 stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares. Trained by John Terranova and ridden by Kendrick Carmouche, the 4-year-old bay filly added a stakes win in her stakes debut to her ever-growing resume, turning back Good Credence by 1 1/4 lengths. Mrs. Orb finished third after a mile in 1:36.34.

Bank Sting is the second stakes performer produced by Bee in a Bonnet, a stakes-placed daughter of Precise End. Liberty Island, a daughter of Harlem Rocker, finished second in the Busanda in 2015.

“I always liked that mare, she’s had a couple of runners by ordinary stallions and we liked the way this filly trained and thought she was OK,” McMahon said. “She’s a talented horse. If we’re lucky and the racing gods keep her sound, we’ll have a lot of fun.”

Consigned to the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern fall yearling sale in 2018, Bank Sting failed to sell for $14,000 and joined the racing team, along with Hidden Brook Farm.

“Hidden Brook is a real good outfit,” McMahon said. “Good people, it’s nice to have a Kentucky outfit that appreciates the New York scene.”

Bank Sting sure helped. She finished fourth in her debut at Aqueduct in December 2019 but came out of it with a chip and didn’t return until this winter. And, wow, was it worth the wait. She won a New York-bred maiden by 2 1/4 lengths, came back and took the first-level allowance by 4 3/4 lengths and tacked on the second-level allowance by a length.

“It was great with her but the bigger thing was Central Banker having three wins, that’s a pretty good day,” McMahon said. “Central Banker is amazing. He gets good runners, consistent runners, he moves his mares up. We’re very proud of him.”

McMahon says he doesn’t go by the book or listen to this guy or that guy, he does it his own way. He certainly did that when taking a big deep breath and bidding $400,000 for Central Banker, a Grade 2 stakes winner for Klaravich and William Lawrence and trainer Al Stall Jr., from Claiborne’s consignment at the Keeneland November sale in 2014.

“He wasn’t a big horse, but he’s well proportioned, extremely well balanced. Everybody looked at him, but nobody pulled the trigger,” McMahon said. “I kept calling Bernie Sams. Claiborne put him in the November sale and we wound up buying him out of the ring and paid a lot of money for him, more than I thought I would. It was a big move for us, but I had very strong feelings about the horse. I just thought, ‘Wow, this horse ticks a lot of boxes.’ ”

Including, the anniversary box. And, Joe, if you’re wondering, it’s meant to be photos or cameras. Better call Coglianese.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2021/05/31/the-sting-mcmahons-celebrate-with-stakes-win-by-homebred/

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River Dog runs away with Mike Lee

By Joe Clancy

Last summer, River Dog was a promising 2-year-old on the verge of his debut at Saratoga Race Course. And then he wasn’t. Trainer Jeremiah Englehart didn’t like what he saw, stopped with the colt and sent him back to Webb Carroll Training Center in South Carolina.

And is getting paid back.

Bob Hahn’s now 3-year-old blasted maiden foes in a 7-length laugher at Belmont Park May 7, and returned Monday to become a stakes winner in the $125,000 Mike Lee Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-olds. Giving away experience to all five rivals, the son of Twirling Candy accompanied Excellent Timing through early fractions of :22.32 and :44.84 before taking over and seeing out a 1 3/4-length victory as the 4-5 favorite. Ridden by Jose Ortiz, River Dog covered 7 furlongs in 1:23.38 as Market Alert rallied for second and Lobsta closed from the back to take third over a muddy track on Big Apple Showcase Day.

The winner collected $68,750 to get to $110,000 in earnings from just two starts. Patience pays, as they say.

“We had a handful of horses that had some immaturities, inflammation here or there, just things holding them back and he was one and looked like he had to continue to grow,” said Englehart of his thinking last summer. “It was a strange year, too. You just didn’t know when to bring them off the farm, with Covid and things. Should you work this week or not? When were they going to open the barn area at Saratoga? There was a lot going on.”

Englehart sent River Dog, foaled at Dutchess Views Farm in Pine Plains and named for a craft brewery in South Carolina, back to Durr and the work toward 2021 began Jan. 1. River Dog breezed four times at the training center in February and March, came to Belmont in mid-March and shined in that maiden win May 2. He prepped for the Mike Lee at Saratoga, and dazzled again. Hahn, watching from home in Hilton Head, S.C., thought of the decision to hit the pause button last summer.

“It’s a great feeling,” he said. “I think a lot of owners don’t trust what they hear and they say go on with it. I trust these guys with everything. They’ve always done right by me, and they said he just needed a little more time to grow and mature. That’s why we decided to wait with him.”

Hahn’s phone rang with purchase offers after the maiden win (accomplished in a quick 1:09 for 6 furlongs), and it’ll probably happen again this week, but he’s going to enjoy the ride for now.

“I just said, ‘Can’t I enjoy this for a little while?’ ” Hahn said of the offers. “Now he’s a stakes winner. It’s a great feeling.”

Hahn breeds to race and to sell (two half-sisters to River Dog have brought six figures in the sales ring), but listened to Durr’s advice when it came time to make plans for River Dog.

“He was one we were going to sell,” Englehart said. “Travis said, ‘You look for these kinds of horses to race. I wouldn’t sell this one.’ He’s very good at seeing that potential.”

Hahn’s first horses were with trainer John Tammaro III and the duo won 13 races (11 stakes) and $520,269 with Maryland-bred Secret Prospect in the mid-1990s. She became a broodmare and her daughter Tangier Sound won eight races (five stakes) and earned $265,970. Tangier Sound’s daughter Sterling Forest never raced, but produced River Dog. Hahn and his wife Faith own two mares, who foal at Dutchess Views Farm in Pine Plains. The breeding game keeps Hahn, retired from a career in pension administration, involved in racing – and days like Monday make the work worth it.

“It’s a challenge to figure out if I’ve got the right sire for the mare,” he said. “It helps me mentally to stay on top of things because it’s so hard. The New York program is a great opportunity. We haven’t won a stakes in what feels like 30 years. It hasn’t been that long, but it’s been a long time. To have a horse nice enough to participate in this type of event, even if he hadn’t won, is special. It’s what we’re trying to do all the time.”

River Dog made Hahn and Englehart sweat through some anxious pre-race details as the trainer reset the tack in the paddock and Ortiz had the gate crew do it again just before loading.

“I broke out more than the horse did,” said Englehart. “Any time something changes you always get worried as a trainer. I was surprised because I thought I had fixed it in the paddock. When I went to pull the overgirth over, I think the saddle just slid to the right side a little bit too much. He had the gate crew fix it the proper way after I fixed it the wrong way.”

Not that it mattered. River Dog broke running from the outside stall, listened to Ortiz and let Excellent Timing have the lead from post three. The Damon Runyon Stakes winner in March edged away by a length – briefly – as Ortiz leaned against River Dog early. By the half-mile split, River Dog drew alongside and eased away. Ortiz took a look behind him coming to the quarter pole, saw no challengers and let the winner stride away. He got a little tired late, but had plenty left.

“You worry about them coming off a big race like that,” Englehart said. “You worry they might bounce or whatever. He likes to play. He’s a gamer. I think he ran through the bounce. That’s him. He knows he’s the boss.”

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2021/05/31/river-dog-runs-away-with-mike-lee/

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Robin Sparkles, Vintage Hollywood handle muddy conditions for Showcase Day stakes wins

By Melissa Bauer-Herzog

Mother Nature tried to rain on the Big Apple Showcase card’s parade by forcing both of Monday’s grass stakes to the main track but in the end the turf horses still put on a show worth remembering.

Robin Sparkles proved to be a rising star on the NYRA circuit with four wins in seven starts before Monday, but took it to an extra level in her eighth start to earn her first stakes success. The 4-year-old daughter of Elusive Quality was happy to go lead a few strides from the gate in the $121,250 Mount Vernon Stakes under Jose Ortiz and made all the pace in the 1-mile event.

Kilkea never let her get too far ahead but never put much pressure on her as they put up fractions of :23.36 and :46.45 for the first half-mile. Kilkea started to fade as the field rounded into the straight and while 1:11.10 for 6 furlongs flashed on the board, it looked like Robin Sparkles would have an easy win. The tide changed quick in the lane, however.

As the field entered the final furlong, it was clear Robin Sparkles didn’t have much left to give while Kilkea found another burst of energy. Robin Sparkles had a big enough margin in hand to keep her lead and the win by three quarters of a length. Four of the five horses in the race were close behind the winner with Kilkea beating Vienna Code home by a half-length and Light In The Sky another half-length behind that foe in a time of 1:38.47.

“She was slowing down the last sixteenth, but it’s also her first time going a mile,” Ortiz said. “I don’t think she liked the track. It was a huge, gutsy effort. They came home really slow. I thought somebody was going to pass me, but everybody was kind of in the same boat, grass horses running on dirt. I got lucky.“

Trained by Bruce Brown for Michael Schrader, Robin Sparkles’ only finish out of the top two was in her debut last July at Belmont Park. The trainer admitted that a big part of her run Monday was to see if she could handle this kind of test when she’s shown to prefer turf.

“Jose said that she is much, much better on turf,” Brown said. “If another scenario like this came up then we would, but he said she’s light years better on grass. We just wanted to see if she was good enough to get the job done against this short field.”

A $30,000 purchase by Linda Rice at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale, Robin Sparkles is one of three winners out of the Dehere mare My Sparky. A five-time winner, My Sparky is a half-sister to the stakes winning Race Home and is one of eight winners for her own dam.

My Sparky spent her whole racing career on the NYRA circuit with five wins and four other top three finishes from 17 starts. Retiring in 2014, the mare was purchased by Robin Sparkles’ breeder Hibiscus Stables at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga fall mixed sale for $5,700 while in-foal to Frost Giant.

The late mare foaled a Frost Giant colt the following year with Cold Sober winning two of his 18 starts. The following year came the winning Majestic Warrior filly G’s Warrior before Robin Sparkles was born at Waldorf Farm in North Chatham in 2017. My Sparky’s final foal is an unnamed 3-year-old filly by the late Effinex.

While Robin Sparkles struggled at the end of her race, the 6-year-old Vintage Hollywood proved to love the slop in the $108,750 Kingston Stakes. Making his stakes debut in his 32nd start, Vintage Hollywood couldn’t have asked for an easier introduction than taking on just two others in the 1 1/16-mile race moved to the dirt.

Vintage Hollywood took the lead out of the gate but was content to let Mo Ready pass him in the opening furlong with all three horses within about a length of each other. It was a steady pace for the trio with early fractions of :23.77 and :47.66 and jockey Dylan Davis asked Vintage Hollywood to put some pressure on around the turn. Three-quarters of the way around the turn, Vintage Hollywood was tired of waiting on the leader and took command.

Control Group tried to challenge the eventual winner at the top of the stretch but had no hope of putting in a serious challenge, with Vintage Hollywood opening up 3 lengths in only a matter of strides. Davis gave him a few taps in the stretch but nothing else was needed to gallop to victory. The gelding pricked his ears in the final sixteenth and stopped the clock in 1:44.30. Control Group finished 5 1/4 lengths back in second with Mo Ready trailing home 27 1/4 lengths behind the leader in third.

“He broke on top,” Davis said. “I allowed him to get into his stride. Once I turned for home, and I got into him, he picked up again and found another gear, and then I knew it was over. It was fantastic. He was there for me the whole way.”

The Kingston proved extra special for Davis, who was riding for the first time in New York after injury forced him to the sidelines earlier this year.

“Being my first day back in New York, and to win a stakes, it’s great,” he said. “It feels special. I did go over to Monmouth and get some winners, but there’s nothing like being at home. It’s fantastic.”

Trained by Orlando Noda as part of the Noda Brothers’ stable of runners, Vintage Hollywood won for the sixth time to take his earnings to $316,945 with 13 other top three finishes. A $5,000 weanling at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga fall mixed sale and $10,000 at the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale, Vintage Hollywood was claimed by Noda in January 2020 for $16,000.

Foaled at Village Farm in Gilbertsville, the Country Day gelding was bred by Harry Landry out of the stakes-winning Tactical Cat mare Hollywood And Wine. That mare was purchased by Landry for $6,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky February mixed sale while carrying this runner. Vintage Hollywood is the second stakes winner for Hollywood And Wine after the Petionville gelding Caribbean Cowboy and one of five winners from six to race.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2021/05/31/robin-sparkles-vintage-hollywood-handle-muddy-conditions-for-showcase-day-stakes-wins/

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Betsy Blue kicks off Showcase Day with Bouwerie win

By Paul Halloran

As a former country music promoter, Joe Gehl is familiar with the concept of a comeback tour. Now, he has experienced it as a racehorse owner.

Gehl, who had been out of the racing game for 20 years, made a successful return Monday when Betsy Blue was an easy winner in the $125,000 Bouwerie Stakes for 3-year-old New York-bred fillies on Big Apple Showcase Day at Belmont Park.

“My partners think I’m pretty smart right now,” said Gehl, managing partner for Cloud Nine Stable, which recently bought the horse from trainer Linda Rice.

Bred by Blue Devil Racing and foaled at Sugar Maple Farm in Poughquag, the daughter of Tonalist out of the Yonaguska mare Honest to Betsy improved her record to 4-for-5 with with $157,100 in earnings in the Bouwerie. The win in the Bouwerie – the original spelling for the lower Manhattan neighborhood – was her fourth straight and second for Rice, who claimed her for $50,000 at Aqueduct March 25.

Ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., Betsy Blue sat fourth off a pace set by longshot Beach Banker and went by favorite Secret Love in the stretch, drawing away to win by 5 1/4 lengths.

“I had plenty of horse,” Ortiz said. “I hit her a couple of times and she took off. I knew I had plenty left in the tank.”

Although the filly had won her first start for Rice, the trainer and jockey thought the mile distance was pushing it, so they welcomed the cutback to 7 furlongs.

“Irad and I agreed that she’d be better from off the pace than pressing it,” said Rice, who sold the horse to Cloud Nine after that starter allowance win. “It worked out perfectly.”

Gehl and his partners – Jack Tavone, Bruce Weiner and Jerson Suarez – would agree.

“We’ve owned her for 30 days,” said Gehl, who owned horses from the early 1980s until about 2001. “With this purse ($68,750), we’ve got enough to pay the monthly bills and look for some more horses.”

Cloud Nine has one other horse, Brazillionaire, a colt they also bought from Rice, who had claimed him out of a maiden win.

Rice claimed Betsy Blue for $50,000 in her half-length win March 25 at Aqueduct. She ran that day for James Politano and trainer George Weaver, who claimed her for $25,000 in her win for a $25,000 tag in state-bred maiden claiming company for owner and breeder Marc Holliday’s Blue Devil Racing Stable and trainer Carlos Martin.

Betsy Blue is the fourth foal out of Honest to Betsy, a stakes-placed daughter of Yonaguska campaigned by Holliday. She won three of 26 and earned $182,530. Her first foal, the City Zip mare Sand City, won two of 25 starts with 10 placings and earned $87,895. Honest to Betsy is also the dam of a yearling filly by Unified and was bred to Tonalist in 2020.

Once he made the decision to get back into horse ownership and had formed the partnership, Gehl reached out to Rice, whose father, Clyde, was a friend during his first foray in the business. Two starts in, they have a stakes winner.

“It’s something I love doing. Horses have been a big thrill for me all my life,” said Gehl, who grew up in southern Indiana and whose father owned work horses. “I started going to the (Kentucky) Derby when I was in college.”

Gehl, a Florida resident who was the promoter for country music stars such Reba McEntire (with whom he owned horses), Merle Haggard, Charlie Daniels and Ronnie Milsap, received a life-saving liver transplant in 2013. He vowed that if he survived, he would get back into horse racing. Saturday conversations at Gulfstream Park led to the formation of Cloud Nine.

“Being in racing is like having a sold-out show,” he said. “It puts you on cloud nine.”

That’s certainly how they felt Monday as they hit the top of the charts.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2021/05/31/betsy-blue-kicks-off-showcase-day-with-bouwerie-win/

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Bankit joins seven-figure club in Commentator

By Tom Law

Winchell Thoroughbreds’ and Willis Horton Racing’s Bankit joined New York’s millionaires club and helped his sire Central Banker extend his lead on the Empire State’s general sire list with a dominating victory in the $200,000 Commentator Stakes on Monday’s Big Apple Showcase Day card at Belmont Park.

Making his second start in the co-featured 1-mile event for older New York-breds, Bankit won by 13 1/4 lengths over 25-1 longshot Danny California with pacesetter Winners Laugh another three-quarters of a length back in third, Captain Bombastic fourth and odds-on choice Mr. Buff fifth.

The $110,000 first-place check in the Commentator pushed Bankit’s earnings to $1,027,875 and makes him the 57th New York-bred to hit the seven-figure bankroll mark. He’s also the first millionaire for Central Banker, who stands at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds in Saratoga Springs and led the New York general sire list with almost $1.6 million in progeny earnings heading into the lucrative Big Apple Showcase Day card.

Bankit came into the Commentator off back-to-back seconds in the Haynesfield Stakes and an open-company optional at Oaklawn Park, which followed consecutive wins in the Alex M. Robb Stakes at Aqueduct in December and the open John B. Campbell Stakes at Laurel Park in February.

Reunited with Jose Lezcano, who rode him to victory in the Alex M. Robb, Bankit settled in fourth early while Winners Laugh, Mr. Buff and Sea Foam scrimmaged for the lead. Winners Laugh led through a quick opening quarter in :22.76 on the muddy and sealed main track, just ahead of Mr. Buff.

Bankit inched up within 1 ½ lengths around the far turn and past the half-mile in :46.41, sliding through rivals and looking like a winner by the time the field turned for home. Bankit took control in upper stretch, opened up by 5 lengths at the eighth pole and continued to draw away to finish in 1:34.52.

“He broke very good today, right on top,” Lezcano said. “I let the other horses go and just sat there. He did it himself the whole way. When I asked him at the quarter pole, he took off like the good horse he is. I rode him one time and he won. I really liked it. He gave me a very good effort that day.”

Bankit’s victory – his sixth in 30 starts and fifth in stakes company for trainer Steve Asmussen– gave co-breeder Marc Holliday’s Blue Devil Racing operation back-to-back wins on the Showcase Day card after Betsy Blue opened the stakes portion of the program in the $125,000 Bouwerie for 3-year-old fillies.

Blue Devil bred Bankit in partnership with Hidden Brook Farm LLC. Foaled at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, Bankit is the first foal out of Sister in Arms. Blue Devil Racing purchased Sister in Arms for $125,000 at the 2012 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale and she won two of six starts before heading to the breeding shed.

Bankit is Sister in Arms’ first foal and he originally sold as a yearling out of the Hidden Brook consignment to SGV Thoroughbreds for $85,000 at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred sale. Bankit was purchased by Winchell Thoroughbreds for $260,000 at the 2018 OBS March sale of selected 2-year-olds in training sale.

“He’s a cool horse,” said Toby Sheets, Asmusen’s New York-based assistant. “He tries hard every time. He’s so cool to be around and one that puts out every time. We had some hiccups here and there, but he’s awesome. He’s run against some nice horses. He’s a millionaire now and he deserves to be. He’s run on an off-track before. He can run on just about anything.”

Sister in Arms also produced an Awesome Again colt named Clifton Park, who sold for $75,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September yearling sale and has won three of 23 starts and $38,551. Her third foal, the 3-year-old Animal Kingdom filly Aunt Mary, has earned $6,660. Sister in Arms did not produce a foal in 2019 and is the dam of a yearling colt by Good Magic and 2021 filly by Street Sense born March 27, both co-bred by Hidden Brook and Blue Devil.

Central Banker, an 11-year-old son of Speightstown who stands for $6,000, sired six blacktype winners and the earners of more than $8.9 million in his first three crops through Sunday. Bankit is his leading earner, along with 2019 New York-bred champion 3-year-old filly Newly Minted ($516,738) and stakes winners Bank On Shea ($450,000), Niko’s Dream ($285,090), Collegeville Girl ($270,526) and Sassy Agnes ($198,782).

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2021/05/31/bankit-joins-seven-figure-club-in-commentator/

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